COVID updates: California prisons, nursing homes may be turning corner in omicron wave
California’s omicron wave of COVID-19 hit a peak for the general population earlier this month, and appears to have also peaked within two of the settings most vulnerable to outbreaks throughout the pandemic: nursing homes and prisons.
California Department of Public Health data show coronavirus transmission metrics continuing to decline, though the state has surpassed 7.5 million lab-confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic not including at-home test results.
CDPH on Wednesday reported a daily case rate of 212 per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 18.7%, both of which are well above pre-omicron levels but are improvements from early January.
California peaked around Jan. 10 at 292 daily cases per 100,000 and 23% positivity.
Infections look to have reached a turning point about two weeks later among residents of skilled nursing facilities and inmates in the state prison system, according to separate data dashboards from CDPH and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Across the state’s 1,223 licensed skilled nursing homes, the seven-day average for new resident cases soared from 32 on Christmas to 617 the week ending last Saturday, but it has since declined to 592.
At state prisons, the rolling 14-day total of new inmate cases hit a high of about 8,900 for the two weeks ending Sunday, compared to about 200 in the two weeks leading up to Christmas. The two-week case load has since since dipped to about 7,700.
At CDCR facilities and at skilled nursing homes, the omicron variant produced a much higher infection peak than summer’s delta surge: about 15 times higher for nursing home residents and 25 times higher for prison inmates, compared to about a ninefold increase for California as a whole.
Prisons and nursing homes have been among the state’s worst COVID-19 hotspots, especially before vaccines launched in late 2020.
More than 9,600 of California’s roughly 78,000 cumulative COVID-19 fatalities have been skilled nursing residents, state data show. Nearly 64,000 prison inmates have tested positive for the virus while incarcerated, according to CDCR.
But prisons’ and nursing facilities’ omicron peaks remain about 15% lower than the height of the winter 2020 surge, and far fewer deaths have been reported than during that wave.
CDPH in a Tuesday evening update said the state’s skilled nursing facilities recorded about 84 combined deaths the preceding week. During the worst of the winter 2020 surge, nursing homes recorded about that many deaths per day, plateauing at that level for about two weeks in January 2021.
Prisons have reported two COVID-19 deaths among inmates since the start of December: one at Wasco State Prison, and one at California State Prison, Sacramento. CDCR reported 244 inmate virus deaths prior to those two.
CDCR in early January suspended inmate visitation for two weeks, and last week extended the visitor ban through at least Feb. 6, to mitigate coronavirus spread.
At nursing homes, guests must be fully vaccinated and boosted, if eligible, in order to visit a resident indoors.
CDCR on Tuesday announced it will provide all inmates with one KN95 respirator mask per week, as well as two disposable surgical masks.
Inmates with work assignments in isolation or quarantine areas will also be given fit-tested N95 masks, which can be replaced as often as needed or requested.
Hospitalizations fluctuate, vary by California region
California’s total for hospitalizations with confirmed COVID-19 has fluctuated between 15,000 and 15,500 for the past week, and intensive care unit admissions appear to be leveling off around 2,600.
CDPH on Wednesday reported 15,279 virus patients were in hospital beds statewide Tuesday, including 2,609 in ICUs.
Sacramento County set another all-time record with 657 COVID-positive patients Tuesday, though the tally of 98 in intensive care remains below the all-time mark of 130.
Hospital trends vary by region. Los Angeles, the state’s most populous county, has shown a clear downtrend in COVID-19 hospitalizations, along with Orange and San Diego.
Most counties outside Southern California either remain on an incline or appear to be in the very early stages of plateauing, CDPH data show.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers
Sacramento County has recorded 250,811 total lab-confirmed cases and 2,646 deaths from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to local health officials.
The county as of Wednesday reported the daily case rate at 161 per 100,000 residents, down from an all-time high of 241 per 100,000 recorded 12 days earlier.
According to CDPH, Sacramento County’s latest test positivity rate is 22.2%.
County hospitals were treating 657 patients with confirmed COVID-19 as of Tuesday, up from 588 one week earlier. The ICU total has increased to 98 from 92.
Placer County has tallied 55,028 cases and 514 virus deaths to date, last updated Monday.
Local health officials last reported the daily case rate at 159 per 100,000 for the week ending Jan. 15.
Placer’s positivity rate is 23.8%, CDPH reported Wednesday.
Placer County hospitals had 247 COVID-positive patients Tuesday, up from 212 one week earlier. The ICU tally increased to 49 from 38.
Yolo County has confirmed 30,981 infections and 269 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Tuesday.
The county’s latest reported case rate is 206 per 100,000, for the week ending Jan. 21.
CDPH reports Yolo County’s positivity rate at 6.6%, the lowest among all of the state’s 58 counties.
Yolo County hospitals were treating 22 patients with COVID-19 on Tuesday, down from 24 one week earlier. The ICU total decreased to five from six.
El Dorado County has reported 23,847 cumulative cases and 182 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Tuesday.
El Dorado’s latest reported case rate, for the week ending Jan. 18, was 115 per 100,000.
The county had a positivity rate of 21.1%, CDPH reported Wednesday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County had 27 COVID-positive patients Tuesday, up from 13 a week earlier. Seven patients were in ICUs, up from five.
Sutter County has recorded 19,855 cases and 210 deaths, and Yuba County has recorded 15,509 cases with 96 deaths, according to a Tuesday update from the bi-county health office.
CDPH reported Yuba County at 168 daily cases per 100,000 and Sutter County at 151 per 100,000 as of Wednesday. Positivity was 33.9% in Yuba and 31.7% in Sutter.
The lone hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties, Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville, as of Tuesday had 58 patients with confirmed COVID-19, up from 51 one week earlier. Nine were in the ICU, up from eight.
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 12:26 PM.
